See your idea in lights and improve safety on Illinois roads

CHICAGO – Do you have a creative flair and an interest in helping to improve safety on Illinois roads? The Illinois Department of Transportation is inviting the public to submit ideas for safety messages to display on the electronic signs located over highways throughout the state.

“Our dynamic message signs are seen by millions of motorists and are one of the best tools we have to reach the public with important information that can save lives,” said Illinois Transportation Secretary Randy Blankenhorn. “This contest is yet another way to drive home the message that driving has life or death consequences. Safety is everyone’s responsibility. We look forward to seeing your ideas.”

Some of the basic rules include:

• Keep it short and simple. Messages are restricted to three lines with 18 characters per line. Spaces and punctuation count as characters.
• Each message must align with one of the six categories: distracted driving, impaired driving, speeding, occupant restraint, work zone safety and vulnerable users, such as motorcyclists, bicyclists and pedestrians.
• One message from each category will be chosen for display by an internal IDOT committee.
• The deadline for submissions is Nov. 19. Winners will be announced in early 2019.

Click here or visit idot.illinois.gov/dms-contest to learn more about contest rules and to submit ideas. Visit the Travel Midwest site to see messages currently on display in real time.

The winning messages will be displayed at times throughout the year to help promote traffic safety. Winning entrants also receive a personalized street sign.

The sign contest and renewed focus on safety messaging are part of IDOT’s Life or Death Illinois campaign in response to back-to-back years of more than 1,000 deaths on Illinois roads, the highest total in a decade. Other efforts include crashed cars at rest areas as a physical reminder of the importance of responsible driving and continued development of new ways to improve safety in work zones. On Oct. 30, IDOT will convene state and local agencies, elected officials and other stakeholders for a safety summit with discussion focused on distracted driving.

Life or Death Illinois is a multimedia campaign that includes vivid imagery and key statistics to underline the importance of safe driving and appeal to audiences to stop and consider the seriousness of the issues on the state’s roads. It marks the first time IDOT expanded its key safety messages beyond the ongoing problems of impaired driving and unbuckled motorists to include new materials aimed at reducing deaths and injuries tied to motorcycles, bicycles, pedestrians, work zones and distracted driving.

Visit lifeordeathillinois.com for more information.

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